Philippine Air Force to get 32 additional S-70i Black Hawk helicopters.

The Philippinedefence secretary said on January 16 that the Phillipines will acquire 32 new S-70i Black Hawk helicopters.

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S-70i Black Hawk  (Picture source: Polish MoD)

The first of the 32 S-70i Black Hawks from a Polish firm owned by US defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin will begin to arrive next year, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Facebook.

"The lack of transport planes and helicopters have never been more acute during the pandemic and in the aftermath of Typhoon Odette. This was exacerbated by our aging Hueys that have become uneconomical to maintain.The 12 brand new Blackhawk bore the brunt of the work during these critical times." he noted.

"Upon the instruction of the President, we are procuring additional 32 brand new S-70i Blackhawk Helicopters. A Notice of Award was issued to PZL Mielec of Poland on 28 December 2021 for the project that comes with an Initial Logistics Support Package and Training for Pilots and Maintenance Crew amounting to PhP32 Billion.

The Contract Agreement is now being drafted, after which I will issue a Notice to Proceed to officially commence the project." he said.

The delivery of these helicopters will start on CY2023 (5 units) while the remaining ones will be delivered in 3 batches as follows: CY2024 - 2nd batch (10 units); CY2025 - 3rd batch (10 units); and CY2026 - last batch (7 units).